Environmental lawyers

Dr. Hermann Ott joins ClientEarth in Germany

News / 13 September 2018

Professor Dr. Hermann Ott has joined ClientEarth to oversee our operations in Germany and help drive our work using the law to protect people and the planet.

Hermann is one of Germany’s most notable environmental protectors and brings experience from across the academic, non-profit and political spheres. He holds a law degree and a PhD in International Environmental Law from the Free University of Berlin and is a professor for ‘Global Sustainability Strategies and Governance’ at the University of Sustainable Development in Eberswalde (HNEE).

From 2009 to 2013 he was a Member of the Bundestag in Berlin and served as the Greens’ speaker on climate policy. In this capacity he was also a member of the Parliamentary Study Commission on “Growth, Prosperity, and Quality of Life” and chaired its working group on the decoupling of resource use from economic prosperity.

Prior to that he served as director of the Wuppertal Institute’s Climate Policy Division from 1998 and set up its Berlin Office in 2004 where he also worked as Senior Advisor for Global Sustainability and Welfare Strategies from 2014 to 2018.

Hermann has written extensively on environmental and climate policy in a range of scientific journals, newspapers and blogs. He has served on the Board of Greenpeace Germany and is currently on the Executive Committee of the German League for Nature, Animal and Environment Protection (Deutscher Naturschutzring, DNR), a network of 87 environmental organisations in Germany.

Commenting on his arrival Dr. Ott said:

“Preserving our Earth in a condition that’s hospitable for future generations of humans and all other creatures has always been my mission, so I am delighted to be joining the highly talented team of environmental lawyers at ClientEarth and using the law to protect the planet.

“Legal environmental action has proven to be the sharpest weapon in the quest for a sustainable future and I hope that we can support Germany, the largest country of the EU, to become a leader in environmental and climate protection again.”